Luxury Consumers Emerging from their Luxurious Cocoons

Furniture World Magazine

In a speech at the Association of National Advertisers' Senior Marketers Roundtable, Pam Danziger, author of the book Why People Buy Things They Don't Need (Ithaca, NY: Paramount Market Publishing, 2002) and president of Unity Marketing, revealed the latest insights on the luxury market from groundbreaking new research on the luxury market. "Today's luxury consumers are emerging from their cocoons that they have surrounded themselves with for the last 20 years. They are searching for a new equilibrium between their inner emotional lives and their position in the social, political and professional world. They are expressing new dichotomies, conflicts and challenges, as they seek ways to relieve the tension they feel in what they buy, what they do and what they feel," Danziger says. "We see this search for equilibrium between the luxury consumers' inner and exterior worlds expressed in the top two luxury products bought in the past year: luxury electronics is #1, representing the inner world including such categories as home entertainment centers, flat-screen televisions, DVD's, computers and accessories; luxury garden and garden accessories is #2, reflecting the consumers new emphasis on the exterior world and their position in society." For luxury marketers, the challenge in the future is breaking through advertising pollution to connect with their consumers in a powerful two-way dialogue. Danziger says, "Every point of contact between the luxury brand and the consumer must be reconfigured for two-way interconnectedness. Luxury brands will continue to grow in importance as a primary conduit for linking up and connecting with the consumers. The company's website will become the central hub for this new dialogue, but it also must encompass the brand's distribution partners and retail sales professionals. In the research, the two most powerful influences on the consumer in their luxury purchase decision was first, the brand of the product and second, the brand or reputation of the retailer. For luxury marketers, what the brand is and where it is sold will take on even greater importance." Danziger will be releasing more information from this groundbreaking luxury research at the Sixth Annual Unity Marketing Executive Conference entitled Luxury Home: Consumers Pursuing Their Passion Buying Luxuries for Their Home. This conference will provide executives of luxury, home furnishings and accents, furniture, gifts and collectibles companies with new information about the luxury home market and the six key trends that will impact luxury home in the future. To register for the conference or for more information contact Unity Marketing at 717-336-1600 or www.unitymarketingonline.com. For a copy of Pam's speech to the Association of National Advertisers, visit www.whypeoplebuy.com.